


When Our Families Fall Apart We Swear We'll Make Our Own (And Thats A Threat)

by Cfae8



Category: DCU (Comics), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: AU Omegaverse, Bart Allen Needs A Hug, Cassie Sandsmark Needs a Hug, Cuddling & Snuggling, I Will Fix Canon With A Fucking Crowbar If I Have To Don't Test Me, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Kon-El | Conner Kent Needs a Hug, Mentions of neglect, Multi, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Pack Bonding, Pack Dynamics, Pack Feels, Platonic Cuddling, Pre-Slash, Scenting, Secret Relationship, Tim Drake Needs a Hug, a/b/o dynamics, before that slash can happen they gotta grow up together and HEAL you feel?, but yall, fair warning. it's gonna get pretty fckin dark in places. these babies are TRAUMATIZED yall, for now. thats gonna change decently quickly, its abo for the feels, mentions of abuse, mentions of apocolyptic future, no beta we die like jason todd, tags WILL change as I update this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-12 17:34:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29388483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cfae8/pseuds/Cfae8
Summary: 90's young justice if it was abo and my gay ass was on the writing team.Alternately.No one on Young Justice had a normal childhood, and just as few had anything resembling a stable pack. When a bunch of too-young, too-hurt kids band together to save the world in their own right, who else can they turn to but each other? They trust each other with their lives on a daily basis, how do they even begin to replicate that kind of bond in their civilian lives? They can't, so they don't. The only problem is, the same world that deemed them old enough to die for it, isn't so comfortable with them living happily in it.
Relationships: Bart Allen/Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent/Cassie Sandsmark
Comments: 12
Kudos: 38





	1. The Start of All Things

**Author's Note:**

> Alternate title: Our Families Fell Apart And We Swore We'd Make Our Own (So We Did)
> 
> *shrug* I couldn't decide on the verb tense.
> 
> Special thanks to Checkov, for letting me rant abt this idea at ungodly hours until I finally had an approximation of a plot desperately clawing its way into my mind.
> 
> kontext: This starts just after 90's YJ #4, between #4 and the rescue mission in Secret FIles. If you haven't read them, thats fine, just know that the "full" team just got together, the DEO is a government agency that monitors metahumans, they're.... morally ambiguous. They do some good things, but have NO lines in terms of respecting life. Secret is kinda a ghost, arrowette has a shoulder injury from this villian Harm, who swatted the team like flies, and the team is staying at Mount Justice. The JLA knows they're there, but doesn't really know what the team is up to. This is their first night ALL together at mount justice.

“So, we’re really doing this then? Breaking a buncha other metas outta some government torture facility?  
  
“I would have phrased that differently, as it’s technically a detention center, but yes.”

The six of them were camped out at mount justice again, with everything happening they hadn’t really had time to bring even cots into the place, and those left around by the league were all almost completely dry rotted. While Secret was obviously a bit impatient to get her peers out of the DEO facility that caged her, they didn’t really have a choice but to rest up, at least for the night. Arrowette’s shoulder needed time to heal, and they _all_ needed to regroup after the incident with Harm.

But Superboy’s question had given voice to everyone’s thoughts. They were about to perform a _prison break_. If the league found out, they’d all be benched for, well, the foreseeable future at the _least_ , righteous mission or not.

That was the thing though. They were all in agreement. They _had_ to free the kids the DEO was imprisoning. Letting everyone there suffer just wasn’t an option.

It was still a lot to think about though.

Tim tried not to.

Instead, he looked at the other kids around him. And that’s what they were, kids. As much as they all felt, and honestly _were_ , capable, the oldest among them was Arrowette, who was _almost_ 17\. Impulse wasn’t really sure what his age was, accelerated growth in the future and all, but as far as Barry and he could figure, he was maybe about 13. And Superboy was, according to his file on the batcomputer, physically stuck at 16. Wondergirl was 14, same as Tim, and Secret didn’t have a clue what her actual age was, though she looked to be around 15. Not a single one of them could be considered an adult.

And, well, Tim’s suit was purposely scent-blocking, Secret didn’t have a proper scent, and Arowette smelled firmly of Beta, but, Impulse, Wondergirl, and Superboy? They all had the scent of _pup_ clinging to them, and Tim knew if he changed into civies, he would as well. While it would probably only be a matter of months before most of them lost it completely, making way for the cocktail of hormones signature to unpresented teenagers, the fact of the matter is that it was still _there_. They weren’t just “not adults”, they were still, technically, _children_.

Even with Superboy debating the morality of what they were doing, even with Tim calculating how likely any collateral deaths were likely to be, and Wondergirl worrying over the legacy she was carrying. No matter how capable. They _were_ all still children.

Tim hated it.

He tried not to sigh at their situation.

He refocused on the present, his _team_. Superboy was to his left, cross-legged with his elbows on his knees and head in his hands, no doubt thinking about how easily Harm had overpowered _and_ outwitted them all. Impulse was buzzing back and forth around the outskirts of the room, alternating between watching the monitors, Wendy the werewolf stalker, and playing some handheld game Tim wanted to ask about. Across from Tim and Superboy, sat Wondergirl, just far enough away as proper for aquaintenced pups from different packs, and next to her was Arrowette, the two softly whispering about something to do with life outside the masks. Secret was float-sitting next to the monitors, trying and failing not to softly laugh at Impulse’s antics.

Then, Tim blinked. And when he opened his eyes Impulse had placed himself between the four of them, spreading out his sleeping bag beneath him. Secret was slowly following.

Superboy looked up.

“Uh, Impulse? What are you doing?”

“Setting up my sleeping bag.”

“…In the middle of all of us?” Wondergirl cut in, this time.

“Yea, why wouldn’t I?”

“I—” Cassie stopped, looking on in confusion as Impulse wiggled into his half-open sleeping bag, torso tilted slightly towards Tim and Superboy.  
  
Tim finally spoke up.

“Uh, why _are_ you setting up your bag between us all?”

Impulse gave him a look, that Tim interpreted roughly as ‘What do you mean _why_?’, and that was just more confusing.

“So we can cuddle, duh.” Impulse continued. “We haven’t been home in days, you telling me you _don’t_ want to?”

And Tim, Tim had _no_ idea how to respond to that.

His first thought was of the months he’d spend alone at home, long before he’d forced his way into being Robin. His next thought was of the distance he felt at Wayne manor. Dick was always willing to pull him into a hug, or force him into a night of “family bonding” where all three of them had to cuddle for the duration of a movie, but… Dick wasn’t really around all that often, and Tim refused to get used to it, the affection. It wasn’t his place, he knew that.

He pushed those thoughts out of his mind too.

“I mean, not really.” Superboy said with a shrug.

That seemed to snap Wondergirl out of her confusion, however.

“Wait, Superboy, have you _ever_ slept with pack? Or, at least your friends?” She asked.

Superboy scoffed, “Of course I’ve slept with pack before”

Yeah, that was so totally a lie.

“No,” Tim started slowly “you haven’t.”

Superboy turned his head and scowled at him.

“I hate when you do that.”

“I know.”

Tim gave him an apologetic shrug, but Impulse was already talking again, now completely facing Tim and Superboy, propped on his elbows and halfway back to standing.

“Man, that’s so totally moded!” He said, moving from his place on the floor one millisecond, and placing himself directly between Tim and Superboy.

“We gotta fix this.”

And really, after Impulse decided he was going to do something, there was very little anyone could do to stop him.

This time, however, rather than arranging his sleeping bag half open and tilted towards Tim and Superboy, it was completely unzipped, soft felt interior facing up where the speedster was sitting. Well, sitting wasn’t the right word, and not just because of his constant buzz of motion. Impulse was… thinking, it seemed. Looking contemplatively at the makeshift bedding beneath him before speeding off, and returning a few seconds later with some militarily-uniform pillows Tim recognized from the old lounge.

“Like, how have you _never_ cuddled with people before?”

Impulse started at the bedding for another fraction of a second before a wild grin split across his face, and before they knew it, Tim and Superboy had been pulled in, limbs askew, but not entirely uncomfortable. In fact, Tim was half tempted to say it was… not a nest, but something close?

“One time I ran into these kids scavenging, they made the _best_ nest outta some random stock of hats and gloves. Totally crash.”

“Wait what do you mean you _ran into_ them–” Wondergirl started to say, at the same time Superboy also spoke up,

“Wait– Hey–!”

Impulse nuzzled into Superboy’s neck and shifted so the three of them were closer, promptly cutting off the boy of steel from whatever he was going to say. Tim had tightened his arms around the speedster before he even realized he was doing it, and thanked whatever deities actually cared that his suit hid the way his scent probably radiated embarrassment. Superboy had no such barrier, however, and seconds later his scent was laced with that of contentment.

Tim felt a vague vibration rumble through the three of them, and had to wonder if it was Impulse relaxing, or a mimicry of an alphas rumble coming from Superboy. He felt a whine try and leave his own throat, and replaced it with an even hum instead, determined to maintain _some_ of the dignity in the Robin name. He definitely shouldn’t be doing this. He’d have to wash his suit before he returned home, shower before he returned to the Drake mansion…

Even so, it was… nice. Really nice.

It’d been such a long time since he’d held contact and scented like this, and Tim… Tim wasn’t sure he could move away even if he wanted to. And he certainly didn’t want to.

With a faster than strictly-possible movement, Impulse was looking at the girls across the way.

“You guys gonna join or what?”

“Impulse–” Wondergirl cut off again, Tim thought with a loss for words, but without daring to look up any further than where Impulse was curled against him, he couldn’t be sure.

Arrowette spoke up next.

“What I think Wondergirl is trying to say, is that it’s really not typical to cuddle and scent people outside of your pack. Less so to _nest_ with them.”

And, in a moment Tim Drake never thought he’d see, Impulse went still. It lasted barely a fraction of a second, but at this distance (or, more accurately, lack thereof) he would have been hard-pressed to miss the pause in the constant thrum of energy that was Impulse. A fraction of a second, then he was back to his normal self.

Tim frowned.

“Well that’s dumb.” Impulse said. “Contact and scenting are good for you, why would you set up rules about who to do it with?”

Arrowette shrugged. “It’s not as bad as it used to be, at least these days kids and omegas are _allowed_ to privately interact with people outside their family groups. Didn’t have that a century ago. And a lot of people _do_ let pups cuddle with pups from other packs. Like you said, it’s good for them. But there’s also a lot of people who’d die before letting their pups fraternize like that.”

“Like obscenely rich people” Tim muttered.

Bart took that all in as fast as they could say it.

“Ugh. You guys are crashing the mode. Who cares about the rest of the world, just come cuddle! You can shower before you go home or something.” Tim could practically hear him rolling his eyes, and he smiled softly. With that final statement, Impulse dropped his head back down, and nosed against Superboy’s neck once again.

Superboy’s arms tightened around him and Tim felt Impulse’s shoulders shake with soft, silent laughter. Tim hid his smile against the speedster’s shoulders, more so when he felt Arrowette and Wondergirl settle in the makeshift nest as well. The two of them curled around the boys by their heads, and a breeze and pressure around his legs let Tim know Secret had joined as well, settled across everyone’s legs, flicking between corporealism and incorporealism with every breath.  
  
Tim Knew he should be more worried about this, about how he’d hide the scents tomorrow, and that it could set a dangerous precedent, but he was tired, and he hadn’t cuddled _anyone_ in way too long, and he was warm and comfortable and his head was lightly buzzing with the smell of content filling their little nest.

And like that, he slowly drifted off to sleep.

That night, he slept better than he had in years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhhhh heres to hoping I finish this? someone yell at me to go fix Siren cause I finished that one and just. Never posted it.
> 
> Edit: I finished Siren!!!! also this has a chapter two now!!


	2. Home Isn't Always A Reprieve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Harm gets away, the JLA confronted the newly formed Young Justice. They had to prove themselves, and they did. Then, for the first time in days, they had to go home.
> 
> Even after just a few days, coming home after having freedom... it can be rough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idefk yall I just really wanted to explore their characters before camping episode, cause from their on out we VEER from canon (kinda).

_Impulse_

Bart was, to say the least, absolutely completely ecstatic. He was part of a _real_ superhero team! To be fair, not being on a team hadn’t made him any _less_ of a hero, and Max was still insisting he needed more training, but being on a team was _different_ , for crash sake! And sure, Red tornado was basically their chaperone, but the _point_ is that the league agreed to let him be a chaperone rather than an outright babysitter! Well, kinda, but basically!

Speeding off to his room to change, Bart couldn’t keep his excitement out of his movements, vibrating even as he speeds through changing and getting downstairs. He laughed with glee and jumped on his mentor, wrapping him in a hug.

“Max! The Justice league said we could be a team! Our name isn’t _that_ crash cause that reporter couldn’t understand me and that is _so_ mode but still! They’re ok with us using Mount Justice as our HQ _and_ to take on missions by ourselves! Well, with Red Tornado tagging along, but that’s ok because he’s _totally_ crash when working with us, he doesn’t treat us like _kids_ , you know?”

Bart dropped back down to… mostly human speeds, he caught a hint of a smile on Max before the other turned away to finish making dinner.

“How’d you get them to agree to that?” Max asked. “They can be a… stubborn bunch.”

Bart grinned and started talking about the last few days faster than any non-speedster

He missed the faint, contemplative look that crossed Max’s face when he finally caught his scent, those of the others quietly laced through it, the same way those of a completely new pack always will.

_Robin_

If Tim thought the gods cared, he’d be thanking every single one of them for the fact that fighting for days at a time on minimal rest, not being able to change clothes, and sweating the whole time had mellowed and muddled out the scents of his friends on his uniform. He didn’t know how Batman would respond to knowing that they had all decided sleeping in a nest together was a good idea. He wasn’t even really sure he _wanted_ to know how Batman would respond to knowing that Tim wanted to do it again. _Tim_ didn’t even really know how to feel about that.

He knew how his dad would react to it all, though.

Batman was silent for the ride back to Gotham, neither of them being particularly partial to having important discussions in cars, but the silence didn’t last long once they did get back.

“Your team, you trust them?” Batman asked, nearly as soon as they were both out of the batmobile.

Tim looked to B, anxious to get to the showers but under no illusion that this conversation _wasn’t_ happening.

“Yes.” He said, heading towards the lockers. “Superboy and Impulse may be somewhat immature, but they both have a good idea of when things need to be taken seriously, they have enough experience that with a little bit of guidance, they’re extremely useful to us in the field. Impulse in particular is good with technology. Getting everyone to figure out how to work off of each-others’ strengths and weaknesses is going to take time, but they all work decently well together already, and there’s a good blend of strengths for a team that’s going to deal with some of the stranger threats here on the east coast.” He said, and Tim paused before speaking up again. “They’re all good people, B”

Batman nodded. “And Wondergirl and Arrowette?”

Tim shrugged as they arrived near the lockers, and he began to remove the armored layers of his uniform.

“For the most part, more than mature enough for the job, and in Arrowette’s case, plenty experienced. Wondergirl is good, inexperienced, but good. What she lacks in internal confidence she makes up for with talent, she’ll only get better with time. Whoever trained her in Themyscira did good.”

Another nod. “Presentations?”

Tim swallowed, and did his best to seem neutral. Technically, they didn’t do anything wrong.

“Only Arrowette knows for a fact, and she’s a beta. Superboy is likely a beta as well considering his physical age, though he leads towards alpha-like tendencies, Impulse, Wondergirl, and I are unpresented.” Tim took off his tunic and shrugged. “But you knew that last one.”

Batman, now Bruce without the cowl and most the suit, cracked half of a smile. “I suppose I did.”

They both placed their armor and top-layers in their respective places, and moved towards the, thankfully, now-individual showers.

“And what will you tell your father, regarding your absence every weekend?”

Tim was half temped to shrug again. Chances were, his Dad would never even notice that he was consistently gone on weekends, despite Tim having already cleared his alibi with him as ‘an acceptable weekend activity’.

“Camping club an hour upstate. I already got him to sign the forms and write the check. The check is getting cashed as a small, anonymous donation to an actual camping club for eleven- to thirteen-year-olds. Contact goes to Babs, who has the contact in a phone specifically for this as “Camp Parent”, if he asks to speak with me, so long as I’m not mid-fight, it’ll go straight through to my com.”

Bruce hummed his approval, then turned away to go to his preferred shower, but Tim still caught the slight widening of his smile before he did. He felt something warm rise in his chest; he’d done his hero proud.

He smiled, and went to take his own shower, because frankly, after three straight days of heroing in the same clothes, he felt like the embodiment of human grossness.

_Wondergirl_

Cassie swallowed. She was sitting at the kitchen table opposite her mother, and neither of them were really touching their food. Silently, she began bouncing her leg under the table.

“So,” Cassie’s mother started.

Cassie stopped bouncing her leg.

“You feel safe working with that team?”

Cassie nodded. “They’re good at what they do.” She smiled a little and rolled her eyes, “Even _if_ Superboy has an ego bigger than his head. But Robin’s a good leader. And Arrowettes been in– in the business longer than most of us, she knows how to handle herself in the field.” She said, stubling slightly between almost calling the hero business ‘the game’. _That_ woulda set her mom off, and that was the _opposite_ of what she needed to do at that moment.

Helena Sandsmark looked at her daughter, then. “and you feel safe?”

“As much I can while fighting crime, yes.”

Her mother gave her a look.

“And around the boys? Superboy in particular–”

And Cassie, as much as it probably didn’t help her case, laughed.

“I’m serious Cass–”

But Cassie cut her off.

“Yes mom, I feel safe around the boys. Impulse and Robin are like, 12, and Superboy is honestly just a giant puppy.”

“Ok but–”

“ _Mom._ ”

Helena stopped and looked at her expectantly.

Cassie smiled.

“Impulse nuggied his hair and hugged him after our last mission, and he _melted_. He just wants friends, even when he says he doesn’t.”

Her mother bit her lip, less outright mad, though still obviously concerned.

“You’re sure this is a good idea?”

Cassie nodded.

“Yes. _And_ it’s what I want. I need experience, and I can get that on a team.” Cassie paused.

“Friends, too…” she finished quietly.

There was a soft, silent moment.

Helena Sandsmark took a deep breath, then sighed. Then she nodded, and shifted her attention back to her dinner.

“Guess I’m going to that conference on Friday.”

Cassie smiled from ear to ear.

_Superboy_

Kon laid in his sleeping bag at mount justice, which was quickly losing his friends' mixed scents, and stared at the phone in his hand. Specifically, at Dubbilex’s ‘See you on Friday’ email staring back at him emotionlessly.

Looking over at the monitors, he saw Red Tornado still standing vigil, unmoved as ever.

Kon sighed and stared at the ceiling for a moment, eyes tracing over Impulse’s paintings of them and Robin. Something panged in his chest, and he wasn’t really sure what it was. Taking a deep breath helped, moreso when he caught their scents again. He stared for another minute.

Then he got up, left the cave, and took off into the air.

And somehow, even in the vastness of empty sky, he felt less alone than he had in that empty mountain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :D hope yall liked this lol. I'm not *quite* happy with barts section, but, eh. I can edit it later.


End file.
